VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - July 7, 2017) - Orca Gold Inc. (TSX VENTURE:ORG) ("Orca" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that further to the Company's May 30th news release disclosing the results of the Revised Preliminary Economic Assessment ("Revised PEA") of the Block 14 Gold Project in the Republic of the Sudan, the supporting NI 43-101 Technical Report has now been filed and is available on the Company's website and on www.SEDAR.com.
Highlights of the Revised PEA on a 100% Basis
The Revised PEA is based on contract mining with material treated at Galat Sufar South ("GSS") through a 3.4 Mtpa standard carbon-in-leach ("CIL") processing plant. Process water will be supplied from a bore-field 85 km south west of GSS where the Company has discovered a new and extensive water resource in a Nubian sandstone aquifer system (see Company News Release dated May 30, 2017). Using a gold price of US$ 1,100/oz for mine design, and US$ 1,200/oz for economic analysis, highlights of the Revised PEA include:
- Pre-tax NPV7% of US$ 278.2 million and an IRR of 26.5% (+78% from Jul '16 PEA);
- After-tax NPV7% of US$ 227.7 million and an IRR of 23.1%;
- In-pit mineral resources comprising 41.0Mt grading 1.46g/t for 1,928 Koz (+57% from Jul '16 PEA) in the Indicated category and 3.4Mt grading 1.56g/t for 173 Koz (+25% from Jul '16 PEA) in the Inferred category;
- 92% of the in-pit mineral resource is in the Indicated category, the balance of which, 8%, is in Inferred;
- 1,630 Koz of gold produced from Indicated resources and 147 Koz produced from Inferred resources over the life of mine ("LOM");
- Mine life of 13.2 years with average annual LOM production of 135,000 ounces of gold;
- Average annual production in years 1-5 of 146,000 ounces of gold;
- Average gold recovery of 84.5%;
- Cash costs of US$ 701/oz for LOM;
- All-in sustaining costs of US$ 752/oz for LOM;
- Pre-production capital costs of US$ 211 million (including a 25% contingency);
- Sustaining capital costs of US$ 92 million; and
- Payback period of 3.0 years, after-tax, from commencement of production.
| Sensitivity Analysis | ||||
| Gold Price (US$/oz) | 1,100 | 1,200 | 1,300 | 1,400 |
| Silver Price (US$/oz) | 15.71 | 17.14 | 18.57 | 20.00 |
| Pre-tax NPV7% (US$ millions) | 177.0 | 278.2 | 379.4 | 480.7 |
| After-tax NPV7% (US$ millions) | 141.7 | 227.7 | 313.7 | 399.8 |
| Pre-tax IRR (%) | 20.2 | 26.5 | 32.3 | 37.6 |
| After-tax IRR (%) | 17.6 | 23.1 | 28.2 | 32.9 |
Based on the very positive conclusions of the Revised PEA, the Company has commenced a Feasibility Study on Block 14, scheduled for completion in Q1 2018.
About Orca Gold Inc.
Orca Gold Inc. (TSX VENTURE:ORG) is a Canadian resource company focused on exploration opportunities in Africa. Our flagship asset is the 70%-owned Block 14 Gold Project in the Republic of the Sudan. Block 14 is situated on a 2,170 km2 concession. Orca has advanced the project from discovery to Feasibility Study stage within five years and plan to reach a construction decision by Q1 2018.
The technical contents of this release have been approved by Hugh Stuart, BSc, MSc, a Qualified Person pursuant to NI 43-101. Mr. Stuart is President of the Company and a Chartered Geologist and Fellow of the Geological Society of London.
